An interface arrangement of this general type is illustrated, for instance, in the document “ARM PrimeCell™, General Purpose Input/Output (PL 061), Technical Reference Manual, ARM Ltd, 2000” on page 2-4 in FIG. 2-1.
An interface arrangement of that type serves to couple a microprocessor or a microcontroller bus to an interface that is provided for the connection of peripheral devices such as, for instance, displays.
Universal interface arrangements of this type for external peripheral devices are used, for instance, in what is known as the system-on-chip.
System-on-chip, also known as system-on-a-chip or SOC, normally refers to a chip that incorporates the necessary hardware and electronic circuits for a complete system. An SOC comprises, on this one chip, memory such as RAM (random access memory) or ROM (read-only memory), a microprocessor or microcontroller, interfaces for peripheral devices, control logic for data input and output, data converters and other components that are part of a complete computer system. SOCs of this type can be used, for instance, in mobile telephones, digital cameras, set-top boxes, personal digital assistants (PDAs) and other applications.
Interface arrangements of this type normally incorporate software-controlled signal generation. The software-controlled generation of all the signal transitions in the required sequence demands a relatively large administrative effort, and this can lead to significant restrictions on the potential performance of the system. The frequency of an output signal generated in this way is limited by the maximum speed of the bus system, which in turn leads to a limitation on the frequency of the output signals and thereby to restricted data throughput.
In particular, however, when driving external components such as displays, a high rate of data throughput from the interface to the peripheral devices is required.